Today's other world new in brief
US confirms 2,532 swine flu cases
WASHINGTON – The US has 2,532 confirmed cases of the new H1N1 swine influenza in 44 states and three deaths, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said yesterday.
On Saturday, the CDC reported 2,254 confirmed cases, with 104 people in the hospital. Washington state health officials said on Saturday a man in his 30s with underlying heart conditions succumbed to the virus last week. It was the first death in the state.
Although most cases appear to be mild, there have been 48 confirmed deaths in Mexico, three in the US, one in Canada and one in Costa Rica. – (Reuters)
Optimism over Iran reporter appeal
TEHRAN – An Iranian court heard the appeal of US-born journalist Roxana Saberi against her eight-year jail sentence for espionage yesterday and her lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, said he was optimistic it would be fundamentally changed.
He said the appeals court had ended a one-day session and would issue its verdict in the coming days.
Saberi was convicted by a lower court on April 18th of spying for the US. – (Reuters)
Italian police arrest Mafia boss
ROME – Italian police have arrested the head of a powerful Calabrian Mafia clan who is on a list of Italy’s 30 most dangerous criminals.
Salvatore Coluccio, who has been on the run since 2005, is suspected of being a boss from the ’Ndrangheta, which has become Italy’s most powerful crime syndicate, and of running a clan deeply entrenched in the drug trade, police said yesterday. – (Reuters)
Iceland parliament to vote on EU talks
REYKJAVIK – Iceland’s government said yesterday it would leave parliament to decide whether to seek European Union membership for the island nation although the two governing coalition parties still disagree on the issue.
“The two parties have agreed to disagree on the EU issue but both parties emphasise their joint intent that it be the nation which, in a referendum, will finally determine whether Iceland will join the European Union,” the government said in a statement. – (Reuters)
Rift in Merkel’s party over taxes
BERLIN – A senior ally of German chancellor Angela Merkel has questioned her plans to promise German voters tax cuts from next year, exposing a deep policy rift within her conservative camp only months before a federal election.
Wolfgang Schäuble, the interior minister and an influential figure in Dr Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), said he saw little room for tax relief and, in a clear jibe at his boss, urged his party to “tell voters the truth” about the weak economy and strained state of German finances. – (Reuters)